Riviera – News Content Hub
The ship’s chief security officer (CSO) told the UKMTO that the vessel was attacked by an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) and had sunk, with crew rescued and accounted for.
UKMTO reported the attack on 5 August, but said the attack took place at 07:30 UTC on 4 August nine nautical miles southwest of Al Mukha, Yemen.
“The CSO of the vessel has reported that the vessel was attacked by an Uncrewed Surface Vessel, which caused a fire onboard. The crew have been rescued by local authorities and are safe and well. The vessel has been reported as sunk,” the report said.
No attribution for the attack has yet been made.
Houthi attack claims
In the northern Red Sea, a Houthi forces spokesperson claimed attacks on tankers, while additional unverified attacks, if confirmed, are being attributed to Houthi forces in the United Arab Emirates port of Jebel Ali in Dubai.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree has claimed that the rebel militia calling itself the Yemeni Armed Forces has fired “a number of ballistic missiles” at Saudi-owned oil tanker Wafa.
“The strike was precise,” the translated statement said, claiming that “with this latest attack, the total number of Saudi oil tankers targeted by our forces since the start of the maritime blockade on 22 July has reached eight”.
Neither the attack nor the claimed figure of eight attacks on Saudi tankers have been verified.
The Houthis also made an unverified claim that their purported blockade of Saudi vessels in the Red and Arabian Seas has forced 29 ships to turn back from their intended routes.
Houthi forces claimed on 23 July to have hit two Saudi tankers in “a special military operation”, using the vessels’ names, Encelia and Layla, “for their violation of the blockade decision issued by the Armed Forces“.
UKMTO has verified one attack, which maritime security firm Vanguard Tech has said hit Encelia, a 109,300-dwt LR2 tanker listed under the commercial control of Saudi Arabian company Bihar International in shipping databases.
Greece-based maritime intelligence firm Marisks said the latest ship attack claim from the Houthis involved the ship listed in Equasis as Bahri-operated tanker NCC Wafa.
Marisks also detailed reports that the group said “indicate that Yemen’s Houthis have conducted a strike against the Jebel Ali industrial area in Dubai, with multiple explosions, widespread fires and significant smoke reported”.
No Houthi claims have yet surfaced and Marisks cautioned the cause of the incident had not yet been independently verified.
If confirmed, Marisks pointed to the incident representing a “significant expansion of Houthi targeting beyond shipping into critical regional commercial infrastructure” and “the escalation the maritime and energy sectors have feared for months”.
Separately from the attack claims surrounding and emanating from the Iran-backed Houthis, multiple news reports, including from Reuters, have cited senior officials claiming that US and Iranian negotiators are inching toward a new version of the 60-day ceasefire deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after an initial deal collapsed amid Iranian-linked attacks on commercial vessels.